What is Mobile collaboration?

Mobile collaboration is technology-based process of communicating utilizing electronic assets and accompanying software designed for use in remote locations. Newest generation hand-held electronic devices feature video, audio, and telestration (on-screen drawing) capabilities broadcast over secure networks, enabling multi-party conferencing in real time.

Differing from traditional video conferencing, mobile collaboration utilizes wireless, cellular and broadband technologies enabling effective collaboration independent of location. Where traditional video conferencing has been limited to boardrooms, offices, and lecture theatres, recent technological advancements have extended the capabilities of video conferencing for use with discreet, hand-held mobile devices, permitting true mobile collaborative possibilities.

Secure Mobile Video

The standard form of video collaboration facilitates face-to-face meetings in video-conferencing boardrooms. However, for manufacturers, the heart of their business is often the plant floor — where traditional video conferencing doesn’t reach.

The mobile technologies which enable mobile collaboration generally include wireless video devices for use on the plant floor and collaboration software for the remote experts’ desktops. Plant workers use the mobile device to share video, voice, telestration (i.e., onscreen drawing) and images with the experts who interact live through the collaboration PC software. Remote experts can also share images or pre-recorded videos to play on the touch screen panel of the device. By sharing this visual content, the experts provide plant floor personnel or field technicians with visual instructions.

Accelerating Product Development

Manufacturers also use mobile collaboration to streamline product development. Design reviews and first-run production samples are an ongoing part of standard communication between manufacturing locations including suppliers. Normally, team members would try to review e-mailed pictures and often have to travel to these locations for live interactions, introducing delays into the process.

Network Requirements

Mobile devices require either an Ethernet or wireless network connection to access the Internet. Wireless connectivity is the most common method used in facilities such as a manufacturing plant. The bandwidth consumption typically ranges from 250 kbps to 1 Mbps, depending on the existing infrastructure.

For field-based applications, it is more common to see bandwidth consumption below 128 kbps due to narrow bandwidth backhaul connections. Even with only 128 kbps, mobile collaboration can include live video, voice, telestration and image sharing between the field technician and the remote expert.

Impact on industry

To date, the use of mobile collaboration technology extends to industries as diverse as manufacturing, energy, healthcare, insurance, government and public safety. Mobile collaboration allows multiple users in multiple locations the ability to synergistically combine their input while working towards the resolution of problems or issues in today’s complex work environments.